What's Required All children with disabilities residing in the State, regardless of the severity of their disabilities, and who are in need of special education and related services, must be identified, located, and evaluated. In addition to children enrolled in the public schools, the child find duty extends to children who are homeless or wards of the State or who are attending private schools 34 CFR 300.111.(a)(1)(i)and 20 USC 1412(a)(3)(A) .
For private schools each district must locate, identify, and evaluate all children with disabilities who are currently enrolled by their parents in private, including religious, elementary schools and secondary schools located in the district 20 USC 1412(a)(3)(A).conduct timely and meaningfully consult with representatives of private schools; and maintain and provide to TEA the number of children evaluated, determined and served under this framework. 34 CFR 300.131(c),and 20 USC 1412(a)(10)(A)(i)(V)
What We Do In coordination with the Texas Early Childhood Intervention (ECI), we provide services for children ages 0-2 who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or visually impaired.
Infants and Toddlers
A meeting will be held with the school district and ECI program six months prior to the child’s third birthday to transition from ECI to school services, Head Start, or other educational settings.
Services are provided for 48 weeks during the year.
These services are provided at no cost to parents.
A certified teacher of the deaf and or visually impaired provides services to the child in the home environment.
Through weekly home visits, the teacher models, supports, and advises the parents in the instructional areas of hearing aid management, parent-child communication, listening skills, and language development for students with auditory impairments. Instructional materials are brought to the home to make the program effective for the family.
Certified teachers of the visually impaired collaborate with the staff of ECI programs.
This plan includes activities and techniques that address the impact of the visual impairment on the child’s development.
The teachers of the visually impaired demonstrate these activities to the caregiver which can then be continued in the home between sessions.
Child’s progress on the IFSP will be reviewed on a six-month and annual basis.
For children referred prior to age three, special education services must be made available to the child on his or her third birthday if the student is found eligible.
Not all children served by the ECI program will qualify for special education services.
Referral Process for Children Served Through ECI
A meeting will be scheduled by the Child Study Division to help the family make the transition from ECI services to special education services 90 days before a toddler receiving ECI turns three years old, if appropriate.
Referral Process for Children Not Served Through ECI
The child’s parents or guardian should contact the home school’s Intervention Assistance Team (IAT) chairperson to initiate a special education referral for an evaluation of the child's needs.
The IAT chairperson meets with the parents or guardian to complete the referral packet or to provide Prior Written Notice (English,Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese).
of the school’s refusal to evaluate.
The IAT chairperson submits the folder to the evaluation specialist, after completing the information.
The evaluation specialist reviews the information and determines if it should be forwarded to the Child Study Intake staff for a highly specialized arena assessment.
The evaluation will be completed within 45 days of initial parent consent.
The ARD/IEP meeting will be held within 60 days of initial parent consent.
The school’s evaluation specialist, special education department chairperson or Child Study Intake staff member sends a request to the Elementary Senior Manager for Special Education and includes the child’s suspected disability.
The Elementary Senior Manager will provide information regarding possible placement options and the Individualized Education Program (IEP) will be developed based upon the information available at the time.
An ARD/IEP committee meeting for temporary placement is held at a designated school with a PALS class to develop an IEP based on the information available at the time.
The members of the ARD/IEP Committee will include the parent(s) or guardian(s), an administrator, an evaluation specialist, a PALS teacher, a general education teacher, and a speech therapist (if needed).
The ARD/IEP Committee identifies the suspected disability and documents it on the ARD/IEP Committee Report based on information provided by the parent(s) or guardian(s), evaluation reports, and/or data from doctors or agencies.
The ARD/IEP Committee develops an IEP for the student. The IEP includes goals and objectives for the areas of reading, language arts, math, science, social studies, and social development. The goals and objectives are based on information provided by the family in conjunction with goals and objectives listed in an alternative evaluation measure.
The PALS teacher shall send a copy of the temporary ARD/IEP Committee report to the Special Education Program Specialist, Preschool Services.
Preschool age children identified for temporary service in special education should be coded “TA” in the primary disability field in EasyIEP, until testing has been completed.
An addtional ARD/IEP committee meeting is held within 30 school days from the temporary placement to establish eligibility and develop an IEP.
During the 30-day period, the evaluation specialist conducts a full and individual evaluation (FIE) or full and individual initial evaluation (FIIE) of the child to document disability conditions, if any, and to consider eligibility for special education services.
If the child meets eligibility criteria, the IEP is finalized.
If eligibility criteria are not met, the child is not eligible for special education services and findings are explained to the parent(s) or guardian(s).
Child Find Procedures for Private Schools
Students who attend private schools located within Houston ISD are eligible for referral, evaluation and determination of eligibility for special education regardless of the child’s district of residence.
In Texas, home schools are considered private schools.
For students presently attending a private school, the referral source should request an evaluation through the Child Study Division by completing the Request for Evaluation Form.
Requests for special education evaluation by parents or private school personnel should never go unacknowledged. Any request for special education evaluation should be reviewed by a HISD Multi-disciplinary Team (MDT). From this review the MDT should:
Refer the student for special education evaluation.
Deny the parental request for evaluation by providing the parent(s)/referral source a Notice of Refusal.
A timely response to a parent request for evaluation is critical. Every effort should be made to quickly convene an MDT meeting when the parent(s) suspect their child has a disability. If the decision of the MDT is to formally refuse a parent request for evaluation, the parent/referral source will receive a personal phone call to gather more information before a Notice of Refusal is sent home.
All private school/home school referrals are centralized. This includes a centralized system for case management, processing of referrals, the evaluation process, and the ARD/IEP Committee meeting.
The evaluation will be completed within 45 days of initial parent consent.
The ARD/IEP meeting will be held within 60 days of initial parent consent.
Questions and Answers for Students Parentally Placed in Private Schools 1. How do I request a disability evaluation for a student parentally placed in a private school? Complete the Request for Evaluation Form
2. How do I submit this request for evaluation form? Submit this form to the Office of Special Education Services – Child Study Division by saving this form and email as an attachment to PrivateSchoolEvaluation@houstonisd.org, (or) Fax this form to 713-293-9770 to the attention of: Private School Request for Evaluation (or) Mail this form to: Private School Request for Evaluation, 812 West 28th, Houston, Texas 77008
3. How do I receive help in completing the request for evaluation? If you have any difficulty in completing this form, contact Regenia Harris at 713-434-4700 or at rharri10@houstonisd.org.
4. What should I expect after completing the request for evaluation? All information contained in this form is confidential. The request for evaluation will be reviewed only by a team of evaluators in the Office of Special Education Services. Following the review you will be contacted to begin the referral process, or you will be contacted to seek more information before Notice of Refusal is mailed home. The reasons for refusal will be listed in the formal letter.
Specific Learning Disability
Houston ISD has adopted the scientific, research-based model of determining a pattern of strengths and weaknesses to identify a Specific Learning Disability (SLD). This model requires multiple components, including the following:
The presence of a significant academic deficit that is supported by four sources of data (informal, criterion references, curriculum based, and norm referenced).
There must be a significant, normative cognitive processing deficit.
There is an empirical relationship between the cognitive processing disorder and the academic deficit.
The relationships occur within the context of an adequate cognitive ability profile.
The academic achievement is unexpected given the student's profile of both cognitive and academic capabilities.
What's Required
All children with disabilities residing in the State, regardless of the severity of their disabilities, and who are in need of special education and related services, must be identified, located, and evaluated. In addition to children enrolled in the public schools, the child find duty extends to children who are homeless or wards of the State or who are attending private schools 34 CFR 300.111.(a)(1)(i)and 20 USC 1412(a)(3)(A) .
For private schools each district must locate, identify, and evaluate all children with disabilities who are currently enrolled by their parents in private, including religious, elementary schools and secondary schools located in the district 20 USC 1412(a)(3)(A).conduct timely and meaningfully consult with representatives of private schools; and maintain and provide to TEA the number of children evaluated, determined and served under this framework. 34 CFR 300.131(c),and 20 USC 1412(a)(10)(A)(i)(V)
HISD Board Policy
What We Do
In coordination with the Texas Early Childhood Intervention (ECI), we provide services for children ages 0-2 who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or visually impaired.
Infants and Toddlers
Child Referred and Placed Before Age-Three
Referral Process for Children Served Through ECI
Referral Process for Children Not Served Through ECI
of the school’s refusal to evaluate.
Temporary Placement Procedures before Age Three
If the evaluation and placement cannot be completed prior to the child’s third birthday, it is necessary to temporarily place the child in a Preschoolers Acquiring Learning Skills (PALS) class through the Admission, Review and Dismissal (ARD) process.
- The school’s evaluation specialist, special education department chairperson or Child Study Intake staff member sends a request to the Elementary Senior Manager for Special Education and includes the child’s suspected disability.
- The Elementary Senior Manager will provide information regarding possible placement options and the Individualized Education Program (IEP) will be developed based upon the information available at the time.
- An ARD/IEP committee meeting for temporary placement is held at a designated school with a PALS class to develop an IEP based on the information available at the time.
- The members of the ARD/IEP Committee will include the parent(s) or guardian(s), an administrator, an evaluation specialist, a PALS teacher, a general education teacher, and a speech therapist (if needed).
- The ARD/IEP Committee identifies the suspected disability and documents it on the ARD/IEP Committee Report based on information provided by the parent(s) or guardian(s), evaluation reports, and/or data from doctors or agencies.
- The ARD/IEP Committee develops an IEP for the student. The IEP includes goals and objectives for the areas of reading, language arts, math, science, social studies, and social development. The goals and objectives are based on information provided by the family in conjunction with goals and objectives listed in an alternative evaluation measure.
- The PALS teacher shall send a copy of the temporary ARD/IEP Committee report to the Special Education Program Specialist, Preschool Services.
- Preschool age children identified for temporary service in special education should be coded “TA” in the primary disability field in EasyIEP, until testing has been completed.
- An addtional ARD/IEP committee meeting is held within 30 school days from the temporary placement to establish eligibility and develop an IEP.
- During the 30-day period, the evaluation specialist conducts a full and individual evaluation (FIE) or full and individual initial evaluation (FIIE) of the child to document disability conditions, if any, and to consider eligibility for special education services.
- If the child meets eligibility criteria, the IEP is finalized.
- If eligibility criteria are not met, the child is not eligible for special education services and findings are explained to the parent(s) or guardian(s).
Child Find Procedures for Private Schools- Refer the student for special education evaluation.
- Deny the parental request for evaluation by providing the parent(s)/referral source a Notice of Refusal.
A timely response to a parent request for evaluation is critical. Every effort should be made to quickly convene an MDT meeting when the parent(s) suspect their child has a disability. If the decision of the MDT is to formally refuse a parent request for evaluation, the parent/referral source will receive a personal phone call to gather more information before a Notice of Refusal is sent home.Child Find for Enrolled Students (see Referral)
Questions and Answers for Students Parentally Placed in Private Schools
1. How do I request a disability evaluation for a student parentally placed in a private school? Complete the Request for Evaluation Form
2. How do I submit this request for evaluation form? Submit this form to the Office of Special Education Services – Child Study Division by saving this form and email as an attachment to PrivateSchoolEvaluation@houstonisd.org, (or) Fax this form to 713-293-9770 to the attention of: Private School Request for Evaluation (or) Mail this form to: Private School Request for Evaluation, 812 West 28th, Houston, Texas 77008
3. How do I receive help in completing the request for evaluation? If you have any difficulty in completing this form, contact Regenia Harris at 713-434-4700 or at rharri10@houstonisd.org.
4. What should I expect after completing the request for evaluation? All information contained in this form is confidential. The request for evaluation will be reviewed only by a team of evaluators in the Office of Special Education Services. Following the review you will be contacted to begin the referral process, or you will be contacted to seek more information before Notice of Refusal is mailed home. The reasons for refusal will be listed in the formal letter.
Specific Learning Disability
Houston ISD has adopted the scientific, research-based model of determining a pattern of strengths and weaknesses to identify a Specific Learning Disability (SLD). This model requires multiple components, including the following:
In order to determine a pattern of strengths and weaknesses, a variety of data sources must be used. This model is consistent with the federal definition of a Specific Learning Disability and Texas Administrative Code 89.1040. Eligibility Criteria.
Forms
Resources